It Could Happen
by Citizen Cobalt 1
Summary: A series of drabbles, mostly Kyuzo-centric. Mostly for fun, so enjoy. Warnings: Female Kyuzo, possible yaoi, language, violence, eventual adult situations. Chapter 3: Duel to the Death? Kyuzo finally gets to duel Kambei.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own S7. Nope.

Warnings: Female Kyuzo, mentions of violence.

I won't say this drabble specifically ties in with 'The Game', but I won't say it doesn't. Which means I have no idea what I'm doing. I just had fun with this. If this inspires anyone, then yay!

I always wondered what sort of mishaps Kyuzo might have had while she was young and more inexperienced. This would be sometime during the war. Since Kyuzo was about 30 in the anime, I would put her at about 16 now.

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What had Sensei told her about falling off cliffs? Kyuzo tried to ignore the blood currently rushing to her head as she struggled to remember his advice.

Ah, yes. He said, "Don't."

Wonderful advice.

Although she wasn't really falling off a cliff. Technically, she was dangling upside down over the edge of a cliff, a few hundred (thousand?) feet above the ground. Sensei had never mentioned this specific scenario.

It wasn't really her fault. Everything had been going just fine!

The battle was nearly over and Kyuzo had cut off a group of samurai who were trying to escape over the cliff. How they planned to do that, she didn't know, but she had four of them down before they even knew what was happening. The last one had scrambled around the edge of a crashed airship, inching along the side in an attempt to get…well, somewhere…

Now this was where the day started to go downhill.

Just at that moment, a smaller airship had sped by dangerously close to the cliff face, mere feet from the two samurai. The wind from it had ripped both warriors off the ledge, out into open air.

Instead of plummeting hundreds of feet to her death, or at least severe injury, her body jerked to a halt in mid-air when something caught her foot. Her target had continued to fall, screaming like a girl as he went.

So there she was, dangling upside down from the underside of the airship. A wire had caught her right foot between itself and the long pole it was attached to.

So…there she was. Hanging there, staring at the upside down world. Feeling like a complete idiot.

Kyuzo had never been afraid of heights, but she had to admit that the way the other warrior's body splattered against the rocks did concern her a little bit. She tried bending at the waist and grabbing the pole with her hands so that she could move her foot, but it refused to budge. The wire was the only thing keeping the pole suspended, so cutting either that or the pole was out of the question.

And she was pretty certain that she would not survive the fall.

What do you do right before your death? Go over fond memories? Regrets? Did she actually regret anything to start with? Were you supposed to have regrets?

The only thing that came to mind was when she accidentally underpaid for a piece of fruit and the vendor didn't catch it. That was a start.

"I regret--." She started to say, but a small door in the hull of the ship abruptly slid open. A head of tangled orange hair and a face mostly covered by thick goggles peered out of the darkness at her.

The two stared at each other in silence. Kyuzo was trying to figure out exactly what sort of creature was before her, and the creature was trying to decide whether or not to help the samurai.

_It's a damn Goblin_. Kyuzo finally decided.

Said 'Goblin' opened his mouth, possibly to ask who she was, or if she needed help. Kyuzo never heard a word as the roar of a ship approached.

That same airship whipped by again. The wind ruffled her hair and forced her body to sway with it. There was a yelp as the 'Goblin' fell back into the darkness of the ship. A few thuds later, the door slid shut again.

That damned airship.

She knew it was the same one. That dark-skinned idiot in green was still next to the cockpit.

She glared at it as it flew away. Whoever was flying that thing was either drunk or simply inept. Aside from that, the moron standing on the hull had come within a foot of cracking heads with her. She could still see him, his light attire standing out against the dark ship.

If she ever saw that samurai again, or the pilot, she was going inflict massive amounts of pain on both of them.

If she lived.

All things considered, it could be worse. The 'Goblin' could have been an enemy, so perhaps he had been about to shoot her. Or he had been about to help her. Probably the latter. At least Sensei wasn't here to see this. How disappointed would he be to see his student in such a situation?

"Kyuzo?" She grimaced and craned her neck around so she could see the figure in red above her. Well, shit.

"Sensei." At least he didn't look disappointed. No, the bastard was grinning at her.

"And here I thought you were dead," Sensei said as he hopped onto the metal pole and started walking out to her position. It dipped under his weight, but still held. "Instead I find you hanging out down here."

"Will you please just help me?" Kyuzo snapped.

Sensei sighed and went to work on freeing her. Kyuzo waited patiently, though inside she was seething. She had a clear view of the samurai on the ship when he went by. Dark skin, long hair.

_Handsome, too._ A voice in the back of her mind spoke up. She ignored that. Who cared if the man was handsome? He would be less handsome once she had his head on a pike.

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13 years later…

"I am Shimada Kambei, may I have the honor of knowing your name?"

"Kyuzo." She decided there was nothing wrong with giving her name. This dark ronin wouldn't be alive long enough to use it for anything.

"I ask only because I know you're samurai."

_Well, aren't we a know-it-all piece of --! _Kyuzo decided to ignore the part of her that wanted to skip any more circling and just kill the man. Instead, she studied him. His description had been fairly accurate. Dark skin, long hair.

Handsome…

End

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As said, these are mostly drabbles. Some might be this long, others might be way longer.

I figured there had to be a time when Kyuzo made some mistakes.

Mostly I just wanted to use the advice about not falling off cliffs.


	2. Vultures

Disclaimer: I don't own S7.

Frankly, I don't get why the girls spent so much time chasing after Katsu. Give me Kyuzo any day. Granted, this is a female Kyuzo.

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Vultures. That's what they reminded her of. Vultures. Large birds with big eyes that would circle and stare at you for hours on end. Just waiting for you to go still so they could swoop in and devour you.

Kyuzo glanced over her shoulder in time to see black hair duck behind a bush. Muffled giggles could be heard over the rustling of leaves and she felt a shiver go down her spine. She had never liked vultures.

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"This is going to be the best house in the village! Count on it!" Kikuchiyo lifted a large plank that was to be part of the wall and pressed it into place.

"With the materials we got from the capital, these new homes are going to be incredibly sturdy." Heihachi agreed as he started securing the plank.

"I'm telling you, I am going to be the best husband Komachi has ever had…or will ever or you know what I mean!"

"No doubts there."

The two were starting to form the south wall when Kyuzo emerged from the forest, walking briskly across the path between the fields. Kikuchiyo shouted a greeting and looked back to his work. He knew Kyuzo had heard him but the red samurai never actually replied to greetings unless they were from Lady Kirara. Heihachi gave her a short wave, but didn't stop watching her. Kikuchiyo hadn't noticed, but something was off about Kyuzo. It was her walk.

The silent warrior had a very smooth, graceful walk. Heihachi had always thought Kyuzo would be a knockout as a geisha. She wasn't really pretty, but she was striking. Her grace was the key. All graceful and slender and…angry…okay, she'd make a great geisha if it weren't for her attitude, which was just a tad unpleasant.

But back to the point. Kyuzo's usually smooth walk was much sharper and her body seemed more tense. It was as if the samurai was trying to resist breaking into a run.

Heihachi looked over at the forest Kyuzo had come from. What could scare Kyuzo so much as to…oh.

There were three, no, four of them. All were Lady Kirara's age or younger, and they were all following Kyuzo.

Heihachi went back to his work, curiosity satisfied for now. Kyuzo would be fine. If she could fight the Nobuseri, than she could certainly hold her own against a pack of women.

"They're after Kyuzo again." Heihachi looked down at Kikuchiyo, who was watching. So he had noticed.

"It'll totally break their heart to know that Kyuzo's a woman." Heihachi said as he watched Kyuzo go around the corner of a house.

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For the first time in her life, Kyuzo wished she were something other than a samurai. Something that would prevent a situation like this from ever coming about. Being of the female gender apparently wasn't enough. Sure, they didn't know she was a woman. The only reason the other samurai knew was because when Shichiroji was drunk, he turned into a horny bastard who liked to grope people. An unfortunate grab between her legs had brought up awkward questions. So Kambei decided to tell them. Of course he had known all along. Kyuzo was fairly certain that it happened during their first meeting. Right around the point where he professed his love.

Ugh. The memory still made her cringe. But at least now she didn't have to constantly make up excuses to get out of 'male bonding' things. Bath houses, swimming, things that involved being shirtless…

They just wouldn't give up! She had walked around the perimeter of Kanna village at least twice, left a few fake trails, climbed up a _cliff,_ and even contemplated going through the river to hide her scent. How the hell were they following her?!

Now, Kyuzo walked as nonchalantly as she could through the village. She heard a greeting from Kikuchiyo and Heihachi…and Heihachi continued to stare at her. Of course he would notice.

But she played it cool. She waited until she rounded the corner of a house. She quickly scanned the area to make sure no one could see her. It was all clear.

Finally, Kyuzo abandoned all semblance of dignity and sprinted towards the forest. If they wanted, well, whatever it was they wanted, then they would have to catch her first. And she could run for a very long time.

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TBC..

I might expand upon some of these, but for now, they are simply short drabbles. ^_^

I think there's fic around here titled 'Vultures'. It's a fun one to read.


	3. The Duel

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai 7.

Warnings: Female Kyuzo, violence, slight animal endangerment of a fictional species.

Notes: I finally finished it! I might edit later, maybe change a few sentences, but for now I'm quite satisfied with it. I have to thank Lhye for encouragement, otherwise I might not have finished this.

Enjoy.

Summary: Kambei and Kyuzo are finally able to duel again. But things never go the way they're supposed to. Not when Shimada Kambei is involved.

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If anyone happened to be taking an evening stroll out in the middle of nowhere, they might come across two samurai, standing about fifteen feet apart and staring at each other with the intense gaze that only warriors could possess. The dark clouds overhead looked friendly compared to the blonde, red-coated samurai.

But there wasn't someone to see them. At least, there wasn't supposed to be.

Despite numerous threats from a certain ill-tempered female samurai, all the samurai save Kikuchiyo had come to watch.

That is, they had come to watch from the safety of the bushes.

"Are we really going to let them do this?" Katsushiro whispered as he cautiously peered through a gap in the leaves.

"Do you think we could stop them?" Heihachi asked wryly. Busy unwrapping a sucker, he ignored Katsushiro's exasperated glare.

"We could try--."

"You couldn't stop Kyuzo when she had a broken arm and a bullet in her chest." Gorobei's comment was directed at him and Katsushiro couldn't stop the surge of humiliation from the memory.

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"_Kyuzo-dono! You should be resting!" Kyuzo ignored the frantic 'stop' motions from Katsushiro. The woman's teeth were visibly bared and clenched as she slowly rose to a sitting position._

"_Don't get up! Please, Kyuzo-dono!" The young man's face was bright red and he was trying to decide where to put his hands in order to keep Kyuzo down, without being inappropriate. Two weeks ago he wouldn't have worried. Then again, two weeks ago, he thought Kyuzo to be a man._

_Just looking at her was bad enough. Aside from the bandages around her torso, the only thing covering her body was a blanket. A blanket that was being furiously kicked aside as she struggled to stand._

"_Don't touch me!" She smacked his hand away from her shoulders._

"_You don't have any clothes!" Katsushiro attempted to appeal to her sense of modesty. For a moment, it appeared to work. Red eyes narrowed. He let out a small sigh of relief as her tense muscles started to relax._

"_Please rest. Maybe later you c-Aaahhh!"_

_Katsushiro didn't remember much after that. All he knew was that he woke up hours later and Kyuzo was gone. His forehead throbbed, a dark bruise already formed on his face. How foolish. To think for one moment that he had won. _

_Kyuzo's good arm had lashed out, strong fingers dug into the back of his head. The last thing he remembered was the floor as it came towards him at an alarming speed._

_Why had Kyuzo done such a thing? Was she still angry over the bullet wound?_

_A sudden chill sent a shiver over his bare skin--Wait…Bare skin?_

_He looked down._

_His shirt was missing... So were his pants…_

_--------------_

"Whose idea was it to leave him alone with her, anyway?" Shichiroji grumbled.

"Yours?" Heihachi offered tentatively.

"…Yeah. Next time, stop me, won't you?"

"Sure."

"Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?" Katsushiro said through clenched teeth. His cheeks were a deep shade of red that clashed with his dark green hair.

"What matter?"

"We have to stop them!" Shichiroji clapped his hand over Katsushiro's mouth and yanked him back behind a tree. At the sound of the struggle, Kyuzo glanced in their direction. The four samurai froze as her sharp eyes swept past their position. Whether she saw them or not, Kyuzo returned her attention to the white-clad man before her.

Heihachi pushed his body into a crouch. When Kyuzo looked, he had dropped onto his stomach and done his best to appear as a shrub. While his move worked, it came with a heavy price. His sucker had gone missing.

Katsushiro squirmed frantically in Shichiroji's arms and the blond tightened his grip.

"Pipe down before you get us killed!" He hissed in his ear. Katsushiro's movements only became more frantic. His face started to change from red to a lovely shade of purple.

_That can't be good._ Heihachi, for a moment, was torn between coming to Katsushiro's rescue, and eating the rice ball he suddenly remembered he packed. Rice or Katsushiro…

"He can't breathe, Shichiroji-dono." As much as he loved rice, the wonderful food was capable of going a few minutes without breathing. Katsushiro didn't seem to have that ability.

"Oh! Sorry."

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Kyuzo hadn't felt this kind of excitement in years. Her heart beat rapidly and she almost fidgeted in anticipation. Kambei, on the other hand, looked relaxed and bored. His lack of enthusiasm was only fueling Kyuzo's excitement. He wouldn't look that way for long. Soon, she would have him fighting for his life. Sweat would drip down his face and his breath would come in ragged gasps, just like their first fight. Only this time, there would be no draw. No silly 'I cannot defeat you' even when he could have.

The memory was a constant source of irritation for the red samurai. What she had expected to be an ordinary mission had turned out to be anything but that. Not only had the 'dark ronin' turned out to be highly skilled, not to mention highly perverted, but with a simple comment, he had destroyed the careful façade of indifference she had erected around herself.

She was still blushing by the time she made it back to Ayamaro's palace. She almost 'borrowed' some of Hyogo's makeup to cover the red in her cheeks, but that idea was quickly tossed aside. Hyogo had dozens of jars of ingredients and Kyuzo had no idea what to mix in order to make the powder Hyogo put on his face. Having never worn makeup or ever seen it prepared, she assumed that it was something akin to mixing medicine, where the wrong balance of ingredients could be fatal.

After all, how could people spend so much time applying the stuff if they didn't have to carefully measure and mix ingredients in order to prevent accidental poisoning?

"Are you ready, Kyuzo-dono?" Kambei inquired pleasantly, interrupting her train of thought.

"Kambei-sama. I will have the pleasure of your death." It felt so good to say those words and to know that she was actually getting the duel she had fought the entire damn Nobuseri for!

Kambei's calm expression didn't change.

"I do not wish for your death." His brow suddenly quirked suggestively. "How about first loss of clothes?"

"What?!"

"I said, 'How about first loss of blood." Kambei smiled. "Weren't you listening?"

_That is not what you said!_ But Kyuzo kept her mouth shut. She was not about to get into argument with Shimada Kambei about whether or not he wanted to remove her clothes. Not when she just wanted to remove _his._

Kyuzo still felt like a fool. Her desire for much more than Kambei's head had been screaming at her from the start. From their first duel in Kougakyo, she wanted him. Yet she did not realize until barely a few days ago.

All it had taken was a simple glance at the shrine the Mikamari's prayed at. A simple glance had reminded her of Kirara, which in turn had reminded her of the irritation she felt when the water witch followed Kambei all over the place. She followed him much like Kyuzo did…

In response to such a revelation, she had immediately sought out Kambei. He hadn't appreciated being woken barely after midnight and ordered to give her a duel. Of course, it might have been her method of entry. Kicking the door down was probably not the best way to ensure his cooperation.

By now, she knew it didn't matter if he liked it or not. All that mattered was settling the score and getting the _hell_ away from him.

Kyuzo was not a stranger to lust. She knew how it felt to want. And she thought she knew how to deal with it. Her desire for Kambei should have been acknowledged, and then pushed aside for more important matters. Instead, she mistook the heat in her skin as the desire to kill him. Next thing she knew, she had killed Hyogo and joined up with Kambei's merry little band of nutcases.

How she had lasted so long without making a fool of herself was a mystery.

But she had lasted! Their duel would end it. Even if Kambei killed her, she would still be satisfied by the knowledge that, either way, she would be rid of the annoying man.

"I want you." Kyuzo almost grimaced when she realized how bad it sounded. Just to make sure Kambei knew that she didn't mean it _that_ way, she added. "I want your head on my wall."

Never mind that she didn't own a wall. She would build one. Or perhaps she could just mount it on a tree? That didn't sound nearly as good. _I want your head on my tree. _No, wall sounded much better.

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"Did he just say what I think he said?" Heihachi's question was slurred by the sucker in his mouth.

"No…he couldn't have…" Katsushiro shook his head furiously.

"I think he did." Shichiroji agreed.

"Sensei would never say something so inappropriate to a woman!" The young man insisted. The blond chuckled and placed his metal hand on Katsushiro's head.

"You've got a lot to learn, kid."

Katsushiro opened his mouth to protest, but Heihachi cut him off.

"Aren't we supposed to be hiding?"

"I'm sure they already know." Gorobei said flatly.

"You think so?"

"Well, Kambei did wave at me a few minutes ago." The entertainer admitted. There was a collective sigh.

"I guess we can grab some better seats." Shichiroji stood and pushed his way through the bushes. Sure enough, Kyuzo glared at him and Kambei wasn't surprised. Heihachi shrugged.

"What can you do?" He muttered before he got up to follow. Shichiroji's target was a fallen log. Decay had softened the wood and made for a much more comfortable seat.

There was an absence of footsteps behind him. Heihachi stopped and looked curiously at Gorobei. The dark samurai was still planted firmly on the branch. Katsushiro had moved to the edge of the bushes, but no closer.

"You guys coming?"

"I feel perfectly safe up here, thank you." Heihachi had only heard vague snippets about Kyuzo and Kambei's first duel, but he knew it had been violent. Katsushiro and Gorobei were the only ones here who really knew how those two fought one another. They were also the only ones who wanted to stay far away…

"I think I'll say over here." When Katsushiro nodded encouragingly at him, he was even more convinced.

Shichiroji, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to any danger. He was already waving the flag he had constructed on their way there. A large leaf on a stick with Kambei's name written on it in what Heihachi suspected was blood. He just didn't know whose.

Shichiroji's devotion to that man was somewhat alarming at times.

"Are they going to start?" He whispered to Katsushiro after he had plopped down in the dirt.

"They still have to stare each other down. Then they'll circle for a bit." Katsushiro whispered in his 'I know all' voice. Why were they still whispering?

"Rice ball?" The younger man turned down the proffered food. Despite feeling somewhat offended that anyone could turn down rice, Heihachi decided not to push it. After all, more for him!

"They're circling." Gorobei announced.

Indeed, the two had started to walk counter-clockwise at what seemed to be the exact same moment. It couldn't be, of course. One of them had to have started walking first. But who? Kyuzo might have been eager to start, but that would have meant losing the stare down. Unless she could walk and stare someone down at the same time. Heihachi had never been able to do that without tripping, but the blonde samurai was very talented, so perhaps it wasn't so hard for her.

"Lovely circles they're making." He commented lamely.

"Yes, they're quite…circular." Katsushiro agreed.

Several minutes passed.

"…I prefer clockwise circling."

"Really?"

"Yes…I think it looks nicer."

"Oh…" Heihachi winced when he bit down on his gloved finger. The mechanic let out a mournful sigh when he realized he'd finished his last rice ball.

And they were still circling…

Wasn't there a rule against too much circling? Heihachi had never had a formal duel. Maybe it only applied in tournaments? That made sense, since they didn't want to spend all day on one match.

It was entirely possible that Kyuzo was employing a new tactic that involved Kambei dying of old age before the fight started. If so, he would have to keep an eye on Gorobei. The dark samurai had to be at least Kambei's age…

Fortunately for everyone involved, the possibly endless rotation abruptly stopped. A sudden crash of thunder broke the heavy stillness in the air and the sky suddenly let loose in a torrential downpour.

"What is it with battles and bad weather?!" Katsushiro wailed as the icy water plummeted through the leaves.

Heihachi grinned and snapped his goggles over his eyes. And people always wondered why he wore them. Showed what they knew.

A clash of steel was suddenly audible over the sound of the rain. Even with his goggles, it was hard to see the combatants. The red and white forms were much closer than before.

"And so it begins…" Gorobei said solemnly.

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If Kyuzo was ever forced to explain why she had charged Kambei at that precise moment, she would say that the thunder just made it seem like the right time.

Never, even under the worst of torture, would she admit that she had only leapt forward to hide the fact that she had practically jumped out of her skin when the thunder crashed. It had just…surprised her. That was all.

It was eerily similar to their first fight, except there was no shock when Kambei blocked Kyuzo's second sword with his scabbard. She didn't try to go for his throat this time, not when she knew how fast his blade was. Instead, she allowed herself to be pushed back to put distance between them.

She came at him again. And again, both blades were neatly blocked.

Kyuzo was careful to keep a respectful amount of distance between them. Perhaps some samurai enjoyed plastering up against each other in a stalemate, but Kyuzo had this little thing called _personal space_. That, and Kambei tended to get a little too friendly during duels. _Quite_ friendly.

Kyuzo counts herself fortunate he only professed his love to her. Hyogo came back from his attempt with red cheeks and a vein bulging in his forehead.

The pouring rain was icy cold. Her hair and high collar usually kept it from going down her neck. But today just wasn't her day.

"Show her who's boss, Kambei-sama!" Shichiroji cheered. She briefly considered turning and telling him to _shut the hell_ _up_. But no, now was not the time for that.

"Kyuzo-dono, you've captured my heart all over again." Now was not the time. Not when she had a creep like Shimada Kambei to deal with!

"Shut up!" She hissed, feeling her cheeks burn. This was precisely the reason why she had forbidden having an audience! However, at least the presence of others would lessen the chance of her saying something extremely stupid.

Something like _'Oh, by the way…Wanna fuck before I kill you?_'

Attack. Retreat. Attack again. Retreat again. Kambei had taken up this strategy as well. Blades touched only for a second, with barely any effort put into the strikes.

Rarely did Kyuzo ever back away from an opponent. Her entire strategy was centered around offense. Attack. Using her speed and double blades, she made it impossible for an enemy to fully guard himself. Most opponents, if they lived through the first attack, were forced to retreat, which let her just continue to come at them.

Kambei didn't do that. Instead of being able to chase him, her strikes were stopped and she found herself forced to hold him off of _her_. Locked in a battle of strength with a man who was far stronger than herself.

The samurai woman was not going to make that mistake in this fight. Her usual tactics abandoned, she let Kambei waste his energy in pushing her away.

The sword sliced through the air only inches above her head as she dropped almost to her knees. As Kyuzo took the opening created by his move, she couldn't help but wonder if it was too easy. Indeed, she was right. His scabbard blocked the scissor strike that might have severed him at the waist.

"Reckless, Kyuzo." She had to roll to the side to avoid his sword and was forced to leave one of her own behind, caught as it was against his scabbard.

"Shut up!" Now with only one sword, the odds were no longer in her favor. The ground was already slick from the rain. With so little traction, and only one sword, it would be much easier for Kambei to upset her balance.

What happened next was really all a matter of coincidence.

In that part of the continent, there is a small creature called a Blue-Backed Fisher. And interesting name, as this creature isn't blue, nor does its diet include any sort of marine life. Regardless, the Fisher is similar in appearance and structure to a clam, albeit one with nearly a dozen legs. Most of their lives are spent burrowed a few inches under ground, slowly digging their way along in search of worms.

The only time the Fisher is seen above ground is during a particularly heavy rain, when they scramble to the surface as their tunnels fill with water.

Specifically, in this case, to the surface where two large bipedal creatures were currently running amok.

One, in particular was coming up only a few inches behind the heel of one of these creatures. Poor thing.

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Even as she felt it happen, there was nothing she could do to stop it. The ground slid beneath her foot. Instead of backing away, Kyuzo did something she hadn't done in almost ten years.

She fell flat on her back.

"Fuck!" Even though her mind was screaming at her to move, her body didn't cooperate. Her right leg had slid out straight and she hissed as Kambei's weight settled on it. In desperation, to keep him from fully pinning her, she plant her left foot on his chest.

Her knee nearly touched her left ear. It was a good thing she was limber, otherwise that move would have hurt quite a bit.

His sword slid between her neck and the ground at the same moment she brought her one sword up to angle behind his head.

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"Kyuzo-dono is so flexible!" Katsushiro's cheeks were pink. Heihachi did not even want to know what the boy was thinking about.

"What will happen now?" He wondered.

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_Nononononono!!! _Their duel wasn't supposed to end like this!

The position made her face burn, even though she wasn't completely pinned. All she has to do was heave with her leg, and Kambei's head would come clean off. But if she did, the sword behind her head would go with him. They would both be decapitated. Although simultaneous decapitation was certainly an interesting way to go, Kyuzo did not wait all this time to be fought to a draw.

Her right shoulder was pinned by his forearm. All she could hope to do was slap Kambei across the face. Somehow, she didn't think that would kill him.

"Shall we call it a draw?" Kyuzo considered spitting in his eye, but she had never really mastered the art. Given her current luck, gravity would bring it back to splatter across her face.

Kambei had the advantage in this draw. Because her right leg was the only thing keeping him off her, she would tire first. All Kambei had to do was wait for her leg to give out.

"Draw?" Kambei offered again and Kyuzo watched in pure horror as a drop of sweat slid down to the end of his nose and stopped above her face. The nerve of that man! He was going to sweat on her now?!

Her hand was still groping blindly for her sword. With the threat of smelling like Kambei looming, her fingers automatically grasped something cool and she swung.

He should have been able to avoid getting smacked across the face with a hand full of mud. But the wet earth collided with his cheek with a resounding 'SMACK!'.

Kambei blinked owlishly, completely stunned by the mud plastered all over the side of his face. Kyuzo too stared up at him. Her hand dropped to her chest. Kambei's intense gaze snapped down to stare her squarely in the eyes. His expression was unreadable.

For possibly the third time in her life, she felt the need to apologize, explain herself, or _something._

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Kambei blinked rapidly to dislodge the mud stuck to his eyelashes. The surprise of being hit was quickly wearing off. Irritation surged up to take its place. He knew Kyuzo to be resourceful, but mud? The red samurai was always so clean, he would have expected the dirt to shy away from her fingertips.

He had to give her points for being so flexible. He certainly can't bend like that. Sordid uses for such flexibility start springing to mind and he nearly forgot about the cold mud on his face. Then, Kyuzo let out what sounded like a cross between a cough and a snort.

He instantly focused on her face. Her thin, yet normally pouted lips were pressed tightly shut. Not in disapproval, or in her usual scowl.

Her eyes gave her away. The anger was gone. Frustration had momentarily disappeared. The red glittered with sharp, amused satisfaction.

Her mouth tightened again with what had to be a very painful stifled laugh.

He hadn't been laughed at in a very long time.

And he found he still hated it.

"Kyuzo…" Kambei stopped. He could be the mature adult. Tell her how childish that was. Then again…

She had given up suppressing her mirth. Her lips formed a challenging smirk.

"You hit me with mud." He said, for lack of anything else. Her smirk stayed.

_What are you going to do about it?_ The grin asked.

"………"

"……" She looked far too satisfied.

"……Fine." He tossed his sword away. Her smirk faded slightly as he waited. Finally, she huffed and tossed hers to the side as well. There was no point to keeping her blade when Kambei had deliberately surrendered his.

The threat to his life gone, Kambei was free to pay her back for the mud.

He could see how much Kyuzo wanted to look to the side to see what his hand was doing, but that would mean breaking eye contact. The prideful woman hated being the first to look away. Kambei was perfectly fine with that.

'SMACK!'

Red eyes were wide in astonishment through the thick handful of mud he had clapped on her face. It brought out her eyes so well.

"Now we're even."

---------------

"Did he just..?"

"He did."

"…I know I said this fight might get dirty, but I didn't mean literally…"

"…She's going to kill him."

---------------

"Bastard!" She couldn't send him flying before, but she could certainly do it now! Kyuzo grinned as she kicked him off.

He grunted as he landed on his back in the mud. Kyuzo could have gone for her swords to regain the advantage, but she had long since gone past the point of logical thinking.

Kambei was going down. Now.

--------------

There was something to be said for two of the fiercest samurai around to be trying to kill each other with fistfuls of mud.

They managed to make it look impressive.

Kyuzo pulled off an impressive side-summersault to avoid the mud ball Kambei slung at her. The older samurai rolled to the right to avoid three small mud balls thrown in rapid succession. The maneuver got more mud on him than the projectiles would have.

"Robes aren't so white now, are they?" She taunted gleefully.

"I agree."

He dodged.

"We're both filthy." He added.

He threw a handful in return.

"We'll need a bath." He continued.

He made his target and she glared through the mud on her face.

"How about it?" He smirked at the angry woman. "It'll be fun. I'll wash your back."

Kambei realized he had crossed the line when Kyuzo snatched up something much harder than mud. The strange looking rock whizzed inches over his head. He could've sworn the thing had legs…

"Arrk!" At the sudden pained shout, Kambei glanced over his shoulder. Oh, he would have to apologize to Shichiroji. At least his right hand man was still alive. Angry, in pain, but still alive!

His relief was short-lived as he felt a hand grab hold of his hair.

-----------------

"Is he okay?" Katsushiro looked over at Shichiroji. Heihachi took his eyes away from the fight to look for the blond. He sitting upright with a dazed expression on his face.

"He's good." He looked back in time to see that Kyuzo had closed the distance during Kambei's split second distraction.

"Kyu-aauch!" Kambei's head snapped back. Kyuzo's fingers were tangled in his hair and she unmercifully yanked on his hair. until he was forced to release her right wrist so he could save his scalp.

"Ooohh…She's got his hair…" Heihachi winced in sympathy for his leader. He hadn't had his hair pulled since he was ten, but no one ever forgets that kind of agony.

Gorobei only shook his head. He recalled once in Kougakyo telling Kambei that he wanted to stand beside him on the battlefield. He would have to amend that statement. Any battlefield that didn't have Kyuzo on the opposing side would be more accurate.

Kyuzo's knee came up, aimed at Kambei's groin. He blocked with his shin.

"Hey Kyuzo!" Shichiroji called from the sidelines. "Getting a little below the belt, aren't we?" A cry of pain instantly followed his words.

There was a collective 'ooooh' of sympathy as Kambei doubled over.

"She's incredible!" Katsushiro's love-struck gushing annoyed Heihachi, who threw a pinecone at him.

"Your sensei just got kneed in the groin! Show some respect for the wounded!"

"But she--!"

"Just think." Gorobei interrupted. "That could easily be you."

The boy paled. He had never received the same violent attention that Kyuzo paid Kambei, but injury was always a possibility with her.

"He's got her!" Shichiroji's excited shout grabbed their attention. Kambei had Kyuzo in a headlock and the blonde woman was squirming, desperately trying to twist out of it.

"Kambei-sama might just win thi--Never mind!" Kyuzo pinched a nerve in his shoulder and slipped out of his weakened hold.

Instead of doing the logical thing and retrieving one of her swords, Kyuzo turned and tackled him into the mud again.

"And they're back to this."

"I always thought I would enjoy watching mud wrestling."

"I'm enjoying it!" Heihachi said brightly.

"You haven't been hit with a rock yet." The bruise on Shichiroji's forehead was already dark purple.

"True."

"Shichiroji-dono, why would you enjoy watching people wrestle in mud?"

"Not people. _Women_."

"I don't understand."

"I'm not explaining this. My head hurts too much."

"She's biting him!" Shichiroji seemed ready to jump in to save his leader, but with a sharp jerk, he freed his now bloody forearm. Kyuzo's bared teeth gave her a somewhat maniacal look.

"He's got her!" Gorobei exclaimed excitedly. Indeed, Kambei managed to roll over her, using his superior weight to keep her on her back.

"Finally. It's over."

------------

_Damnit! Damnit! _Kyuzo jerked and bucked, but he was too heavy to dislodge. Her fingers were tangled in a chunk of his hair, but that provided her little leverage.

Was this it? This was how it ended? On her back in the mud? No glorious battle to the death, only ending when one of them collapsed to their knees as their head rolled away?

What was she to do now? Kambei had kept his promise. They had fought again. He won. She couldn't demand another duel just because she didn't like the outcome of this one.

Before, Kyuzo had assumed that losing meant death. Death meant separation. No matter who died, she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life resisting the urge to tackle him and tear at his clothes.

But now what?

She could leave. Slink away in defeat and get as far away from Kanna as possible.

Even as she thought it, she knew it would be useless. Somehow, she would find herself in his company again. And what if he found someone? With the millions of women in existence, there had to be one Shimada Kambei would want to bed. The thought of his hands on some other woman's body made the acidic bite of jealousy curl in her stomach.

Would she sit back and let a giggling slut get what she, at this point, had practically _earned?_

"…Fuck No!" Kyuzo pulled hard on the hair wrapped around her fist.

"Wha--?"

It was a sloppy kiss, more of a violent mashing of lips and teeth. Months of repressed desire fueled her frantic attack.

Kambei was still and unresponsive, and for a moment Kyuzo expected rejection. After all, why would he want her? Were all of his suggestive comments and taunts just teasing? He rejected the lovely Kirara, why would he want someone less attractive than her?

She was on the verge of stopping, of pushing him away, when he tilted his head to get a better angle. His mouth tasted of blood and his lips were coated with mud and sweat. But none of that mattered. Not the cold rain, nor the puddle she was lying in. Kambei's body was more than hot enough to ward off the chill. And who cared what was under her back when his delicious weight settled on her, pressing her into the earth?

She kissed him harshly, desperately, breathing in through her nose, not wanting to lose contact for an instant. Her hands ran through his hair, over his shoulders, his back. One, or was it both, of his hands pushed up under her coat to grip her hips. Her back arched, her legs wrapping around his in an effort to bring him closer. Kyuzo only allowed space the slip her hands between their stomachs, her fingers working at the buckled of his belt.

"Uh….Guys? Hello?" The voice broke through the haze of lust and Kyuzo tilted her head back to look at the upside down faces above her.

"…Ah….So is this…?" Heihachi trailed off, obviously at a loss for words. Everyone was. The silence only broken by the pattering of rain and the harsh pants of the pair intertwined in the mud.

"So……would this be a draw?"

-----------------

End.

I'm pretty proud of this. It's the first thing I've ever finished that's longer than three pages.


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